Anderson Silva has been pulled from his fight against Kelvin Gastelum scheduled Nov. 25 in the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. USADA (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency), informed the UFC that a test, collected last month (Oct. 26) has flagged up as a potential violation.
Although a fair trial is in order and the 42 year old Brazilian is considered innocent until the results of his B sample come back, it does not look good. Silva is no stranger to this type of controversy, testing positive for steroids drostanolone and androsterone following his fight with Nick Diaz, his return fight following his horrific leg break against Chris Weidman.
If the B sample does indeed come back negative the minimum suspension for Silva, being a second-time offender, would be two years. At age 42, a suspension like this would most likely mark the end of the middleweight’s legendary career inside the Octagon. And although Silva is still innocent pending this second sample, the potential violation has come up too close to his clash with Gastelum. Because of this the UFC has no choice but to seek a replacement for the bout, a fortnight from today.
Who will step in to replace ‘The Spider’ is still up in the air at this time. Only two of the other top fifteen ranked middleweights in the UFC are booked as of right now (Uriah Hall and Vitor Belfort who are set to face one another in St. Louis early next year) and Gastelum could be a dangerous fight on short notice for those above him in the rankings. With only two weeks to go, this potential violation has put the UFC in a bit of a tight spot, here’s hoping we get a replacement announced sooner rather than later.
8 Responses
Paddy Moore
Nick Otwell
John Hulme ?
No a shocker cuz. He got to big for his boots when he was champ an when he list the belt he just went down hill from there.
John Hulme sad cuz happening all to often now
Aye it is. It’s all over the sport at the minute. 90% of them don’t even need the shit to win but still getting caught taking something or other
Fucking drug cheat